Kent Spitfires captain Rob Key was delighted to have seen his side comformtably beat the Surrey Lions in the T20 at Beckenham.

Key’s unbeaten 51 combined with Darren Stevens blistering 43 not out saw the Spitfires through to an emphatic eight wicket win with over three overs to spare.

Tight bowling from the Kent attack restricted the visitors to just 116 for 7 off their 20 overs and the Spitfires knocked off the required 117 with ease.

Speaking to KSN after the game, Key felt that the Lions would have been disappointed with the total they had posted:

“We started well and if you start well in a game like this, you’ll do well. The first six overs are always crucial and we started brilliantly which was a massive bonus.”

“Mark Davies started unbelievably well again and I don’t think Jimmy (Adams) can work out how someone who bowls so slow, can be so dangerous, but he is a very, very good bowler.”

“One hundred and sixteen probably was never enough on this wicket and from one end it was nice to bowl and the other it wasn’t because you were in to a stiff breeze, so you could play out one end and look to take advantage at the other and we were able to do that.”

A 40 run partnerhip between Key and Sam Billings set the tone for the Spitfires innings as they laid the platform to go on and win the game and the Kent skipper was pleased with how they went about the chase:

“We picked our moments, but then it’s a bit easier when you are chasing that sort of score. The one thing you need is a half decent start which we got with Bilbo and myself.”

“You can take your time as you haven’t got that scoreboard pressure as such. Even chasing that type of score, there’s something to learn from, because we would have ended up being on 160 for 170 had we carried on in that manner and that would have been a good score here.”

After recent disappointments with the weather, Key was delighted to have finally got a full game in, in front of a packed ground at Beckenham:

“It’s especially pleasing seeing as we haven’t played much and this was the first of our Twenty20 games and they’ve played a bit more. It’s nice to be able to put on a decent show as we’ve put in a lot of practice, so we should have been ready for it.”

“The hardest thing in a way is to turn up wondering if you are going to start, wondering when you will play and how much you’re going to play. It’s always hard to get yourself ready for a game if there is some uncertainty, but knowing you’re going to start on time, it makes things so much easier.”

Next up for the Spitfires is a trip to Chelmsford on Wednesday night to play the Essex Eagles and Key is hoping the side put on another show like they did at Beckenham:

“It’s never a nice place to go and we will have to look forward to that as usual. Everyone in this group is a good side and I think the only luxury we have now is that Somerset aren’t in our group.”

The Kent Spitfires travel to Southampton on Friday evening to play Hampshire in the T20 with a return game scheduled for Sunday at Canterbury.